The SSU Main Directorate for Internal Security and the State Bureau of Investigation have detained the deputy director of a state-owned enterprise in the Dnipropetrovsk region for attempting to bribe a Security Service of Ukraine officer.

The suspect offered the officer USD 50,000 to evade criminal liability.

To bribe the SSU officer investigating a case of embezzlement of the company’s state property during the pre-privatisation period, the suspect enlisted an acquaintance to negotiate on his behalf.

The SSU lieutenant colonel immediately reported the ‘offer’ he had received to his superiors. This enabled the suspect’s criminal actions to be documented in a timely manner.

The law enforcement team then apprehended the state-owned company official ‘red-handed’ at a petrol station in Dnipro as he attempted to hand over the bribe.

The detainee has now been notified of suspicion Article 369.3 of the CCU (offering, promising or providing an unlawful benefit to a public official holding a position of responsibility).

The decision on custody as a measure of restraint is pending. The suspect faces up to eight years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The operation was carried out under the procedural supervision of the Dnipropetrovsk Region Prosecutor’s Office.